Month: September 2014

A hands-on session catering for absolute beginners to improvers. Bring some yarn and appropriate knitting needle size, or any project that has become too difficult to continue. The tutor can provide some yarn, needles and simple patterns. If it’s your first attempt, Double Knitting (DK) yarn and 4mm needles are recommended.

Norman Cornish the last surviving Pitmen Painter has died aged 94. The story of the Pitmen Painters is a remarkable one and is now portrayed in the playThe Pitmen Paintersby Lee Hall. This play has recently been on national tour and was met with critical acclaim.

Norman Cornish

The Pitmen Painters have an important place in WEA history and we are very proud of our association with them. The group grew from a WEA course run by the WEA Ashington Branch and Durham University. Taught by painter and tutor Robert Lyons (1894-1978) the group were mainly miners from the local area and had no formal artistic training. The group and its work became celebrated in the British art world in the 1930s and 1940s. However, their story, work and philosophy has far more significance than just the sum of their art work. Theirs is a fascinating story.

Read about them in William Feaver’s book: Pitmen Painters: The Ashington Group 1934-1984